Historical Analysis of Dalit Assertion in Punjab: A Study of Ad Dharm Mandal Report

Historical Analysis of Dalit Assertion in Punjab: A Study of Ad Dharm Mandal Report: Dr. Vinay Kumar Page 944

International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-4, May 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

Historical Analysis of Dalit Assertion in Punjab: A Study of Ad Dharm

Mandal Report

Dr. Vinay Kumar1

The literary meaning of the term Ad Dharm is the original or ancient religion. The

followers of this religion considered themselves the original inhabitants of Indian subcontinent

and they were popularly known as Ad Dharmis. The Ad Dharm movement was backed by the

ideas of the Gurus, Rishi-Munis, Saints and Bhakats. The most significant influence on this

movement was that of Guru Ravidas who belonged to the protestant Sant tradition. His

mysticism is not based on the blind faith but is the byproduct of first hand and immediate

encounter of truth and reality. The Ad Dharmis used his picture as their emblem and his sayings

as their sacred texts. The memory of Guru Ravidas had been kept alive by a loose network of

shrines and pilgrimage centers called Deras dedicated to his devotion.2 The Ad Dharm followed

a pattern like that of Sikhism. There were readings from the scriptures of the Ad Dharmi Gurus,

a few hymns, poetry, a homely and a silent meditation. They used the special mantra ‘Soham’3

means “I am that”. They also use the term Guru for the holy men from their own caste as well as

the legendary ones. The Ad Dharmis adopted the phrase ‘Jai Guru Dev’4 to greet the person of

their community and in response the other person is expected to greet with the phrase ‘Dhan

Guru Dev’5.

1 **Dr. Vinay Kumar, HOD PG Department of History & Director Dr. Ambedkar Studies Centre,

JC DAV College, Dasuya (Hoshiarpur) 2 Mark Juergensmeyer, Religious Rebels in the Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1988, pp. 83.

3 It is founded in the Upanishads implying the basic unity and equality of the world.

4 Lit. means, Victory of the Divine Guru.

5 Lit. means, Blessed by the Divine Guru.

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The Ad Dharm Mandal was founded

on 11th

-12th

June 1926 A.D at village

Muggowal of District Hoshiarpur in Punjab.

It was founded by Babu Mangoo Ram of

village Muggowal along with other

conscious men from his caste. In that big

gathering following resolutions were

passed:6

1. Ad Dharm untouchable society to be

formed and to form organization of

untouchable castes for Qaum’s

upliftment by over-coming bad

rituals.

2. To set apart from evil spirit

apparition, and follow the teachings

of Rishi Balmiki Ji, Guru Ravidas Ji,

Satguru Namdev Ji and Guru Kabir

Ji.

3. To celebrate birthdays of our Guru

with pomp and show and request the

present Government to declare

gazetted holidays on the birthdays of

these Gurus.

4. To force the government to abolish

untouchability.

6 Baldish Lal, The Role of Ad-Dharm

Movement for the Socio-Economic Development

of Ad- Dharmis of Punjab (Unpublished M. Phil

Dissertation), Shimla: Department of Sociology, H.

P. U, 1993. pp. 29-30

5. To send boys and girls to get

education in schools, to demand fee-

concession and scholarships. To stop

too much expenditure and develop

habits like cleanliness.

6. To achieve Mazlisi (organizational)

and political rights.

7. To stop the exploitation of forced

labour.

8. To stop Rayat-Nama7

and menial

occupation for the permanent

ownership of the residing houses.

9. To amend Punjab Land Alienation

Act 1900 A.D to provide equal status

to labourers and farmers.

10. To separate Achhut Panth from

Hindus in the census for different

Qaum spirit.

11. To get membership in various

departments such as District Board,

Panchayats, Municipal Committees

and councils.

12. To make Achhut Panth aware of the

politics.

7 Rayat-Nama was a customary law under

which the untouchable agreed upon all the laws and

regulations of the upper caste people.

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Some other Resolutions passed at

village Muggowal while the foundation

of Ad Dharm Mandal was:8

1. (a) We declare to the government

and all the untouchables that the

Ad Dharm Mandal has been

formed.

(b) Our greeting is “Jai Guru

Dev.”

(c) Our faith follows the teaching

of the Adi Prakash Granth.

(d) Our sacred word is ‘Soham’

which means “I am it”

2. The founder of our religion are

Maharishi Balmiki Ji, Guru Ravidas

Ji, Satguru Namdev Ji and Bhagat

Kabir Ji. Their scriptures have been

established as Adi Parkash Granth.

3. This conference represents all

districts of Punjab and it appeals to

all untouchables in the Punjab to call

themselves as Ad Dharmis.

4. All the Ad Dharmis should live all

together without any sort of quarrels

amongst one another. On the other

hand they should start eating

together and start social relations

with each other.

8 AD Dharm Mandal Report, 1926-31, pp.

11-15

5. The Ad Dharmis should defend

themselves collectively if some other

community attacks on them.

6. All the members of the

community should attain compulsory

education.

7. The scriptures which show the

untouchables as slaves should be

boycotted.

8. The Minister of Education of the

Punjab Government, Lahore should

give special scholarships and

education for the Ad Dharmis,

because they are very poor and are

not in the position to bear the

expenses of the education.

9. For the upliftment of the Ad

Dharmis, some special schools

should be opened, as the upper caste

people are not willing to give

education to our children.

10. We are the agriculturists, but we

are not paid enough agricultural

wages. We are under paid which is

not even sufficient for our family, so

the vacant land should be restored to

us.

11. The untouchables should be

made able to own the land where

they live. The Government should

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work to eliminate the inhuman laws

like provision of Rayat-Nama.

12. We are not Hindus. We strongly

request the government not to enlist

us as such. Our faith is not in

Hinduism whereas our religion is Ad

Dharm. The Hindus are not our part

and even we are also not the part of

Hinduism.

13. Our Ad Dharma should be listed

separately in the census, and in other

ways, be-given equal rights to as the

Hindus.

14. We want appropriate

representation in Municipal councils,

district councils and legislative

assemblies as per our population

percentage.

15. It would be a disgrace to the

British rule if they gave India

independence without providing the

Ad Dharmis their equal rights.

16. Many organizations such as

Dayanand Dalit Uddhar Mandal

(Hoshiarpur), Antaj Uddhar Mandal,

Acchut Uddhar Mandal and Lahore

Achhut Udhar Mandal are not

representing the dalits whereas these

are well used by the upper castes to

increase their own power and

dominance amongst the dalit. The

government should not consider

them as our representatives.

17. We, the dalits had considered

‘Red Color’ for the symbol of Ad

Dharm, as it is the color of the

original inhabitants of India.

18. The text like ‘Manu Samriti’

which considers the dalit as slaves

should be banned by the government

as these are the obstacles in our

progress.

19. Our headquarter has been

established at Jalandhar City so we

notify it to the government that all

important documents,

announcements and correspondence

regarding the dalit should be send to

us at Ad Dharm Mandal Jalandhar

City.

20. In this conference we assure the

British government that we the

untouchables (Dalit) are the true

supporters of the British and also the

true patriots. We have been, are, and

will in future remain loyal well

wisher of the British government.

21. It is the utmost duty of all the

Ad Dharmi to act on these principles

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and also to ask their Ad Dharmi

brothers to follow them also.

22. It is our humble submission to

the British government that they

should issue strict instructions to all

the branches of the Punjab

government that no one has the right

to compel the untouchables to work

without paying appropriate wages.

The Main Principles of Ad Dharm

Movement are also well described which are

as follow:9

1. No one can change the basic

teachings of the Ad Dharm.

2. Any man or woman who belongs

to Ad Dharm but do not know

about its principles, is leading a

sinful life.

3. To live without a Guru is a sinful

act. A Guru should be someone

who truly and rightly knows the

teachings of the previous

masters. He should have the

ability to distinguish between

falsehood and truth.

4. Every Ad Dharmi should follow

the teachings of the previous

9 Ad Dharm Mandal Report, 1926-31 pp.

31.

Gurus which leads them towards

progress. So the practices of the

previous Gurus should not be

abandoned.

5. Eating with the other castes

should not be discriminated.

6. The Ad Dharmi should abstain

themselves from theft, fraud,

dishonesty, lies, using anything

which brings intoxication,

gambling and capturing others

property or belongings.

7. It is the duty of every Ad Dharmi

to arrange for the education of

his children and also instruct

them to obey the present King.

8. The foremost duty of every Ad

Dharmi is to read the Adi

Prakash Granth and follow it.

9. Ad Dharm has no faith in caste

system or any racial

discrimination.

10. To get knowledge and seek

progress is compulsory for every

Ad Dharmi.

Organizational structure and Leadership of

Ad Dharm Mandal was as follow:

The fulfillment of desired objectives

of any movement is based on its systematic

949


structure. The leaders of Ad Dharm

movement well analyzed this necessity and

planned for a well established structure at

the national, state, district and even micro

level. The important office-bearers of the

organizing Committee of Ad Dharm Mandal

are as follow:

1. President: He is the hub of any

organization. All the activities of

the organization are initiated with

his permission. He usually

presides over all the activities of

the Organization. The first

president of the organizing

committee of Ad Dharm Mandal

was Seth Labhu Ram of village

Succhi Pind, district Jalandhar.

2. Vice President: He act as

president and even presides over

all the activities pertaining to the

organization in the absence of the

president. Bhagat Gulab Mall of

village Musahibpur of district

Hoshairpur was the Vice

President of this movement.

3. General Secretary: General

Secretary is the main explorer of

the organization. He is the

coordinator of all the activities

pertaining to the organization. He

has assigned various activities

under the stewardship of

President. Lachhu Mall Shah was

the first General Secretary of the

Ad Dharm Movement. He

belonged to village Bhatoli,

district Hoshiarpur.

4. Joint Secretary: He is the co

guide to the General Secretary.

He also assists him in various

organizational activities. Atma

Ram of Rasta Mohalla, Jalandhar

city was appointed for this post.

5. Treasurer: He is to look after

the financial activities of the

organization. As we are aware of

the fact that without the finance

no organization can reach its

destination. Chaudahry Suba

Mall of village Tajpur, district

Jalandhar was the first treasurer

of the Ad Dharm Movement.

6. Other Members: Baba Sultani

Ram village Beas Pind, district

Jalandhar, Babu Ganda Ram,

village Quadian, district

Jalandhar, Babu Chanda Ram

Kartarpur, Babu Ghina Mall,

village Pandori Lammin, district

Hoshiarpur, Babu Mahatma Faqir

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Dass Jalandhar, Babu Essa Ram

village Soffi Pind, district

Jalandhar, Babu Dhhilku Mall,

Fulati Ram, Babu Lakku Mall,

Babu Vadhva Mall all from

Kangra (Himachal Pradesh),

Babu Sant Ram district

Gurdaspur, Babu Rakha Ram

Garhshankar, district Hoshiarpur,

Babu Saien Dass village Chak

Hakim (Kapurthala Provience),

Babu Partap Chand village Narur

(Kapurthala Provience), Babu

Harnam Dass Rai Kot district

Ludhiana, Babu Sunder Ram

Hakim district Lyallpur, Babu

Gonda Ram Nankana Sahib

district Shiekhupura, Babu

Vazira Ram Chak No. 129, distrit

Multan, Babu Rala Singh Chak

No. 96, district Montgomery,

Babu Bhallu Mall district

Ferozpur, Babu Ganpat Rai of

Sirsa, district Hissar, Bhag Ram

Chak No. 15, district Sargodha,

Babu Shambu Ram district

Chamba (Himachal Pradesh) and

Babu Hardyal Mall of Dalhousie

Cantonment.10

10

Baldish Lal, The Role of Ad-Dharm

7. Executive and Advisory

Committee: Babu Mangoo Ram

of village Muggowal tehsil

Garhshankar, district Hoshiarpur

was appointed as the President of

this Executive and Advisory

Committee. Pandit Hari Ram of

village Pandori Bibi, district

Hoshiarpur was appointed its

Vice-President. Babu Hazara

Ram of village Piplanwala,

district Hoshiarpur was its

General Secretary. Its Joint

Secretary was Chaudahry Shadi

Lal of Ali Mohalla, district

Jalandhar. Ram Chand Khera of

village Khera, district Hoshairpur

was appointed its Treasurer and

Organizer. He was also the editor

of the weekly published

magazine Adi-Danka (Drum of

Adi People) which was published

in Gurmukhi, Urdu and Hindi.

Mehian Mall of village Maudial,

district Hoshiarpur was

appointed the Clerk. Bantoo Ram

of village Kotwal, district




P. U, 1993. pp. 39

951


Lyallpur and Bakhtavar Singh of

village Kaplan, district

Malerkotla were appointed as

Clerks without Pay. Chaudhary

Bhagu Mall of Hoshiarpur was

appointed as the cock.11

8. Propagators of Ad Dharm: The

propagators of any organization

are very significant to achieve

the desired objectives. Their

important duty is to enlighten the

commoners with the teachings of

the organization. Similarly, the

Ad Dharm movement also

appointed some propagators in

the different parts of the country

to flourish the ideology of the

organization. Sant Ram Azad of

Chak No. 272, district Lyallpur

was appointed to propagate the

principles of Ad Dharm in the

area of Punjab which became a

part and parcel of Pakistan after

the partition of India in 1947

A.D. Mahatma Ganesh Dass

Bharamtoor of village Haripur

was appointed to propagate in the

11

Baldish Lal, The Role of Ad-Dharm




P. U, 1993. pp. 39-40

region of Jalandhar. Pandit

Bakshi Ram Shastri of village

Bundala was also appointed in

Jalandhar. Babu Gangu Ram

Gargaj of village Mustapur,

district Hoshiarpur was

responsible to propagate in hilly

areas. Babu Hamir Chand of

village Banghal was appointed in

district Ludhiana. Babu Puran

Chand of village Thattri Bhaiki

was also appointed in district

Ludhiana. Babu Mehtab Shah of

village Basial was appointed to

propagate the principles of Ad

Dharm Movement in the region

of Patiala Province. In the Ad

Dharm Mandal report it is

mentioned that more than five

hundred members were

nominated from various parts of

the world especially from

Punjab. Hoshiarpur had the

largest number of active

members, 176 the next highest

number of members came from

Jalandhar, 120. The region of

Lyallpur had the third largest

concentration of members, 90.

But the other towns of Punjab

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Historical Analysis of Dalit Assertion in Punjab: A Study of Ad Dharm Mandal Report: Dr. Vinay Kumar 52

had only a nominal presence

ranging from a few tens to less

than ten as 12 from Shiekhupura,

13 from Ferozepur, 14 from

Ludhiana, 10 from Sargodha, 18

from Montgomery, 14 from

Gurdaspur, 10 from Multan, 5

from Hissar, 1 from Karnal, 2

from Gujranwala, 1 from Sialkot,

2 from Lahore, 42 from Kangra,

2 from Ambala, 3 from

Dalhousie, 1 from Patiala State, 2

from Bikaner State, 15 from

Kapurthala State, 2 from

Bahawalpur State, 4 from

Chamba State, 2 from

Malkerkotla State and 3 from

Gujrat State.12

Besides Punjab the

membership from the other parts of

India and even abroad was also

made. The people from different

parts of India like Meerut, Lukhnow,

Delhi, Allahabad, Saharanpur,

Banaras, Kanpur and Calcutta

became the members of Ad Dharm

Movement. The membership was

12

Ad Dharm Mandal Report, 1926-31, pp.

17.

also enlisted even from some other

countries like Malaya, Manila, Fiji,

Burma, Philippines, Russia, U.S.A.,

Canada, Africa and New Zealand.

9. Financial Support: Finance is

essential for every organization. The

rallies, deputations, banners, slogans,

food for preachers and many other

amenities need money. At the time

of the beginning of this movement,

the Ad Dharmis were mostly the

field labourers. They were given

kind and not the cash. Their other

duties were to look after the

domestic animals and to carry the

dead animals. If at all they save some

money they were not aware about the

use of that money so generally they

bury it under the land. The

propagators of Ad Dharm collect

money and mostly the food grains

from each village for the movement.

Another important source of the

income of the movement was the

rallies organized from frequently. In

the rallies special Golaks (the pots

provided to put the donations) were

arranged and the Ad Dharmis

consider it their religious duty to

donate for the sake of the movement.

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Some Punjabi Ad Dharmis had

started their business of leather at

Calcutta and gained profits from it.

They also send handsome donations

for the propagation of the movement

important persons amongst them

were Seth Kishan Dass and Mali

Ram.13

On the contrary, some

organization suspected that the Ad

Dharm movement was also

financially supported by the

Muslims, the Christians and the

British but it was denied by the

leaders of Ad Dharm Movement.14

The leaders of this movement

claimed that it was ‘a blatant lie’ and

regarded these accusations of

jealously on the part of the upper

castes. It is mentioned in Ad Dharm

Mandal Report15

that the world is

changing and they are also changing

themselves with it due to which the

upper castes are jealous to their

progress. The Hindus and the Sikh

wanted to keep them as their slaves.

We the Ad Dharmis are clarifying

13

Interview with Seth Mool Raj son of Seth

Kishan Dass of Bootan Mandi. 14

Mark Juergensmeyer, Religious Rebels in

Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publishers, 1988, pp. 133. 15


69.

them that neither the government nor

the Muslims not even the Christians

have any influence on our

movement. We are simply asserting

ourselves.

The Ad Dharm Movement had

contributed a lot to uplift the Ad Dharmis.

The leaders of this movement many a times

send memorandums and demand charters to

the British government in favour of the

qaum. There is no evidence that there was

any direct encouragement from the British in

the organizing of the Ad Dharm. The

important leader of this movement namely

Mangoo Ram Mugowal, was in his youth, a

big enemy of the British, and even joined

Gadhar Movement against them. Now he

justified on the grounds that the world is

changing and similarly the Ad Dharmis

should have to change themselves. Another

reason for the change in his attitude is that

the government is also accepting some of

the appeals of the lower castes. It is also

significantly mentioned in the Ad Dharm

Mandal Report that there is hope from the

Bhagwan (God) and help from the Badshah

(King). Try to send members to the councils

and start the Qaum anew. Come together to

form a better life and destroy the caste and

creed barriers. We have a generous

954


government above us and pray to the God

that British rule may be eternal.16

The Ad Dharm Movement presented

its demands to the government in special

delegations and on the occasions of public

hearings. In 1928 the British government

deputed Simon Commission under the

headship of Sir John Simon to inquire into

the workings of the Government of India

Act 1919, to see whether the patterns of

diarchy, communal representations and

some others are satisfactory. There was no

Indian member in this commission so the

Indian National Congress decided to boycott

its hearings. An All Indian Depressed

Classes Conference was organized at Delhi

under the guidance of M.C. Rajah of Madras

who was on the Indian joint committee

working with Sir John Simon, to decide

about the united approach the Scheduled

Castes should take in regard to the hearings.

It is not certain whether the Ad Dharm

leaders went to those meetings but they went

in late February, 1928 with a delegation of

150 members to meet the Simon

Commission. At that time Simon

Commission was not in India so it is

possible that this delegation met M.C Rajah

16


14

and other Untouchable leaders at Delhi. The

Ad Dharm Mandal refused to boycott the

Simon Commission hearings as the

Congress had urged them to do so, contrary

they intended to make as much use of the

event as possible.

The Ad Dharm Mandal led a

procession in Lahore in November, 1928

A.D which was the biggest and the grandest

procession of the Ad Dharm’s history.17

They presented a list of demands to the

Simon Commission under the leadership of

Mangoo Ram Mugowal. They also got it

printed and circulated this memorandum

amongst the masses. The official record of

these hearings printed in full the memoranda

of those delegations that appeared and the

discussion that ensued, but the Ad Dharm is

not among them. This is all the more curious

in light of the fact that groups similar to the

Ad Dharm appeared before the commission

in other parts of India but not in the

Punjab.18

It is also possible that the Simon

Commission may have omitted lower caste

delegations in the Punjab because they, like

Mahatma Gandhi, felt that in the Punjab

Muslim-Sikh-Hindu communalism

17


Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publication, 1988, pp. 137 18


Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publication, 1988, pp. 138

955


overshadowed the problem of

Untouchability.

The prominent leaders of Ad Dharm

Mandal, Punjab met the then Governor of

Punjab F. D. Montmorency and presented a

memorandum regarding the judicious

demands of the community. They explained

in the memorandum that more than three

million people in Punjab are disgracefully

called the ‘Shudras’. They had no right in

the society and were treated as the slaves

from the centuries ago. In spite of the fact

that there are some highly educated and

capable men in the community, they still got

no significant place in the society. The

deplorable condition of the mute millions of

this oppressed community was due to harsh

treatment meted out to them by the high

caste Hindus under the shadow of their holy

scriptures like ‘Manu Smriti’. The Ad

Dahrmi community was the most backward

people in the Punjab as regard to the

education, public service and social position.

Now they had reached to the fact that they

were not the Hindus and would like to be

called as Ad Dharmis, even in the Census.

The significant demands of the Ad Dharmis

were to get appropriate arrangements for the

education of the Ad Dharmis, separate

representation in all the legislative and

public bodies, a minister in the provincial

executive, equal rights of the ownership of

any property of dwelling houses, equal

rights to use the public wells, proscription of

the Hindu scriptures in which contemptuous

mentions have been made of our race and

community, strict ban on the mention by the

name of Shudra, to restore equality in all the

public and private official works, reservation

of the land in the colonies for the Ad

Dharmis as done for the other communities,

to issue strict orders against the forced

labour, the national presumption of

innocence should attach to the Ad Dharmis

and to give permission to the Ad Dharmis to

go and settle down in the foreign

countries.19

These demands put forwarded

by the Ad Dharmis in front of the British,

highlighted their problems. It was the first

attempt for the amelioration of the lot of

down trodden community and has been

rightly hailed as the ‘Magna Carta’ in the

historic struggle for the eradication of

untouchability and inequality. Such dialogue

with the British government shows that the

Dalit of Punjab had become more vigilant

and clear about their demands and rights in

19

“A Document: Historic Struggle for

Eradication of Untouchability and Inequality” in

Pancham No. 6, Ist April 2001, pp. 29-31.

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the beginning of 20th

century which was their assertion in reality.

References: 1. Mark Juergensmeyer, Religious Rebels in the Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1988, pp. 83.

2. Baldish Lal, The Role of Ad-Dharm Movement for the Socio-Economic Development of Ad-

Dharmis of Punjab (Unpublished M. Phil Dissertation), Shimla: Department of Sociology, H. P.

U, 1993. pp. 29-30

3. Baldish Lal, The Role of Ad-Dharm Movement for the Socio-Economic Development of Ad-Dharmis

of Punjab (Unpublished M. Phil Dissertation), Shimla: Department of Sociology, H. P. U, 1993. pp. 39-

40

4. Mark Juergensmeyer, Religious Rebels in Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publishers, 1988, pp. 133

5. Ad Dharm Mandal Report, 1926-31, pp.

6. Mark Juergensmeyer, Religious Rebels in Punjab, Delhi: Ajanta Publication, 1988, pp. 137

7. “A Document: Historic Struggle for Eradication of Untouchability and Inequality” in Pancham No. 6, Ist

April 2001, pp. 29-31.

Historical Analysis of Dalit Assertion in Punjab: A Study of Ad Dharm Mandal Report

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